The Phunk Chronicles

Deondra Smith is the founder of BookNerdFam, an online bookstore launched during the height of the pandemic. A former English teacher turned entrepreneur, Deondra aimed to make a difference in her community by creating virtual book clubs for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults. What started in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, quickly expanded to cities across the state and eventually to New York, Texas, Alabama, and California.   BookNerdFam has grown beyond the online store with the addition of a branded book mobile, bringing the joy of reading directly to communities. Deondra also supports teachers by providing valuable resources for their classrooms and students. Thinking about hosting a book party at home? Dee can make that happen too!   Learn more about her inspiring journey from educator to entrepreneur, and shop for your next great read at https://bookshop.org/shop/BookNerdFam .

Miguel Hampton is the owner of F5 Enterprises where he has established himself as a published Commercial, Portrait, Professional Headshot, and Fashion photographer, as well as a professional camera operator and videographer, based in Jeffersonville, Indiana, near Louisville, Kentucky.    He has over 20 years of expertise spanning Fashion, Headshots, Senior Portraits, Photojournalism, and Commercial Photography. Additionally, Miguel excels in video production, live streaming, and content creation.   You will learn a lot about his entrepreneurial journey, family and creative influences and the value of networking and exposure among many great nuggets of inspiration.   Learn more about Miguel's work at his https://f5enterprises.com/ and https://f5photos.com/ websites.

Chanel N. Wells-Henderson is the founder and creative force behind Chanel Nicole Co., a premier photography and branding studio in New Albany, Indiana that caters to entrepreneurs, and small business professionals. Her bread and butter are headshots for entrepreneurs and brand photography for their businesses. Learn about her journey to entrepreneurship and the evolution of her business to include services such as email marketing, web design for and creativity workshops. Learn more about Chanel's services at https://www.chanelnicoleco.com.

Latasha Brown is the founder and visionary of Global Lofts, her hotel brand which works to transform the hospitality industry into an inclusive representation of the surrounding areas where explorers like to travel. In this episode we learn how she first became involved in real estate, how that evolved into a dream of becoming a hotel owner and the international vision she has for the business. We go deep on really interesting personal topics like her business experience in Accra, Ghana. her career interactions with Louisville's local African immigrant communities, her personal Cameroonian heritage learned during a quest of self discovery and how all of these interests ultimately intersect with the hotel business. Some of Latasha's many milestones include being voted as the Most Admired Woman in Hospitality in 2023 by Today's Woman Magazine and becoming a contestant in the "She Has A Deal" pitch competition in Washington, D.C. in 2022.  Additionally, she was selected as one of the 30 program participants of the year-long Russell Technology Business Incubator in 2023. Learn all about Global Lofts on the web, keep up with posts on the Facebook page and connect with Latasha here, on LinkedIn to stay up to date with the brand.

Rebekah Lynn Dow is the owner of Cloudwatcher Studios. In Louisville, KY. In this episode she shares her Christian faith and how it informs her cinematic art. We learn about her talented children, one an illustrator and animator who has also created a fashion line among other endeavors and her daughter who is a great makeup artist. See Rebekah’s work on the Cloudwatcher Studios website, https://rebekahdow.myportfolio.com/cloudwatcher-studios  Episode recorded on February 17, 2023 in the Phunk Phorge at Nettie's Place airbnb.

Annette Wilson Strom is the owner of Nettie's Place an Airbnb in the West End of Louisville, KY. In our inaugural episode she shares how she got into the real estate business through this rental platform. Annette also spent some time sharing her 65-65-24 Campaign for herself and other women in Louisville celebrating their 65th birthdays in the year 2024. We learned about her company ChiVille and her soon to be launched blogging website Nettie's Daily Dose. It's a great episode and you'll learn a lot including how to reserve Nettie's Place for your next stay, on her airbnb site, www.airbnb.com/h/nettiesplace Episode recorded on February 2, 2023 in the Phunk Phoge at Nettie's Place airbnb.